DESCRIPTION

Overlooking the main town square in what is the old municipal seat, the Museum of the Montappone Hat is the only historical and cultural memory of the ancient straw manufacturing in the town, a real "art" to which farmers were engaged during the periods of rest from the main agricultural employment.
From the collection of the straw to the selection, and by this to the braiding and sewing, till the press that gives shape to the hat, all processing stages are illustrated step by step from projections, photographs, panels and vintage machinery perfectly functioning placed along the entire path of the collection.
From the smallest hat, that of a doll, to the eccentric sunshade two metres wide, in the museum there are exciting unique pieces as the last hat worn by Federico Fellini, or as the characteristic boater of the early century, along with common hats, for work, for wedding, whimsical and chic hats, top hats, fez, cocked hats, Pamele, and kepi, in a incessant reverberate of eras, stories and different styles. The museum houses raw materials and products related to the production of the hat, the economic engine of the town which makes it famous in the world as "International Centre of the Hat", as well as manufacturing district where more than 50 companies produce, export and sell all types of headgear.
Through a selection of tools for the processing of the straw, the museum shows to the visitor the production stages: from the collection and selection of wheat straw to the braiding and final sewing.
Along the exhibition there is an old pareggiatrice, the machine used to select, depending on the size, the strands of straw destined to be intertwined.